Men's Basketball

Broderick Robinson headed to Kansas juco

Grand Junction High School basketball standout Broderick Robinson, who attracted attention from NCAA Division I programs, verbally committed Thursday to Northwest Kansas Technical College, a junior college in Goodland, Kan.

Robinson said earlier this year he was leaning toward signing with a junior college to hone his skills and eventually sign with a large Division I program.

"They recruited harder than anybody, and the coaches were great guys," Robinson said. "And I fit into their up-tempo playing style."

Jase Herl, a former player and assistant coach at Colorado Mesa University, is the head coach at NKTC. Robinson said Herl's connection to Grand Junction factored into his decision.

"He has been watching me play since I was a junior," Robinson said. "He's been down here watching me a lot."

NKTC has had a men's basketball program for only two years and already has made great strides. The Mavericks made it to the Region VI semifinal this season before falling to Hutchinson Community College.

"Without a doubt his athletic ability was one of the things we liked in him," Herl said of Robinson. "He's obviously an outstanding athlete. But I told him and I told his mother that it's his ability to make other players around him better that really drew us to him."

"Hell, I knew who he was when I played at Mesa. I'd play pickup ball with his brother Everett, and obviously Broderick was a lot younger then, but he's always been in the gym. But as I got into coaching and he got older, he was on my radar. I'd say maybe two years ago was when I really started following him. I saw him play eight or 10 games in the summer and plenty of high school games and knew without a doubt he was the kind of player we wanted."

During his senior season, Robinson led Grand Junction to the third round of the Class 5A playoffs before the Tigers fell to Denver East. Robinson was the sixth-highest scorer in Class 5A, averaging 20.9 points per game.

Robinson also was recruited by Boise State, Long Beach State, Cal-State Northridge, Air Force and Division II Metro State in Denver.